The weekly Floridian. [volume] (Tallahassee, Fla.) 1867-19??, 1887-11-10

Tobacco - 3O1H0os
There b no abatiae In The snsEU with which
the Florida Tobacco Producing and Trading
Company has gone to work II . revival Of the
culture of tobacco in Florida Being convinced
Of the success Of their gigantic enterprise they
are pushing il meshodicaly. stunning al the 70
sources q, their command, and they are such -
know of no failure. To get . clear and conpre-
hensive idea Of what is to be accomplished and
how 1t is to be accomplished, . representative Of
the Journal buttonholed Mr.. William Murray
Cory, the Superintendent Of the F. T. p. and
T. Co, who had this week come up fro m Quincy
for few days visit to headquarters Mr.. Cory
is looking in exceedingly blooming health. the
handsome features hav ing rounded and tinted
with the rosiest of hues. The conversation natu-
rs,ly commenced with q query about the salu-
brity Of the climate.
The climate is simply delicious" was the
smiling retort; I'VE have glorious weather al
most ali the year round. Quincy and Tallahas-
see are the healthiest places of the whole PENN
sular State. Never case OF yellow fever And
if you would bring the fever there it would die
out without infection. But" he continued. II
suppose YOU are more interested in the prospects
of the tobacco culture, in what we are doing, and
in our progress there than in climatology. To
begin with therefore, have been busy in getting
the deeds of the land We have bought there, and
have just got through paying off the purchase
price Of 10 900 acrea OF these we are going to
cultivate at first 600 acres We have divided
them into several plantations and put each plan
tation under the supervision OF a manager and
superintendent We are commencing TO build
nice substantial houses for our men, curing sheds
for the tobacco, and stable accommodations for
horses, mules, COWS and steers, for we intend
1.-Two in To hov
thing substantial to feed our working force with
as we'll as 10 produce the best natural manure
for our tobacco fields We intend to use moth
ing but stable manure for our tobacco crops, and
we have so far acquired all the stable manure
from Savannah and jacksonville, from the lat
ter place alone all the manure from thousand
horses Besides, have chartered several
schooners here TO bring US down stable manure
from this city. So you see We have plenty Of
work before US; in fact we have TO provide
everything except the soil. But where there is a
will there is way, and we have the will and the
means"
How about the soil, Mr. Corry?"
d" The soil proper consists Of layer OF bumus
about to 10 inches deep. The sub-soil is red
clay which has got the quality of almost water
reservoir. Ii soaks in the rain and retains il as
il were as a nourishing source 10 the humus.
Thus il is that neither incessant rain storms nor
droughts can hurt the vegetation for the red
clay OF the sub-sol Abeorbs any superfuity Of
moisture, while, on the other hand, during any
drought it furnishes moisture TO the humus.
Tomatoes and hurricanes are unknown in that
part of the country, likewise hail, which does 80
much damage to the Northern leaf"
"What kind Of tobacco do you intend to grow
n" "Wye1l. we l~nly suma,r. and
partly Havana We sent an expert
to Cuba to get 81 the best districts,
and we have been g by the Agricultural
Department with about . thousand packages of
Sumatra seed In future va shall use our own
seed, as we have set aside Is acres exclusively
for seed beds. The trouble thus far with the
Florida tobacco grower has been that he did
not understand the use OF the seed. He sent for
White Burey, for Virginia, for Connecticut for
Ornoco and some other kind of seed and mixed
them all up. OF course he produced mongrel
growth Nor did he understand the needs and
fashion Of the trade. Nor did he have a shed to
the Florida tobacco has gradually disappeared
from the market, and why even this years pro-
duct is no criterion Of what the leaf can be if
properly raised 1t is the product of impure
SEED, il-assorted, and boxed up uncured. OF
course all this will be changed. We will grow
our tobacco from pure seed, as pure and good as
can be obtained; we will fertlize il with natural
manure; we will have our curing sheds of such
perfection as no other tobacco district can boast
Of and We will assert it most cOnscientiously
cordng to its size, color and soundness And
we will pack ii in bales"
us it true that an acre of Florida tobacco
land does not yield more than ESQ to 800
pounds7"
mo, sir; the minimum is about 900 pounds
to the acre."
What will be next seasons yield in your es-
timationI'
well as stated, we shall cultivate l 900 acres.
Figuring the minimum at 600 pounds per acre,
! we will have 900. 900 pounds. But there are in
| our county 100 tobacco farmers who intend TO
put from 5000 to 5000 acres under cultivation
this would make from 100000 to 1900, 900
pounds more. Besides another New York syn
dictate has bought 8 900 acres, and suppose they
| will have some of it under cultivation next
| wear"